Santa Ynez Valley

Santa Ynez Valley
Our Backyard

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Rincon Parkway December 2015

After finally completely finishing the lastl steps in our transition to a ful-time RV life, we headed down to the Rincon Parkway for a couple of days.  Winter storm had really stirred up the surf which we enjoyed watching during our stay.











When the sun was at the right angle, the spray would show subtle rainbow colors.




A short video sample of the surf



We also had a couple of nice sunsets.



Friday, November 20, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Madness

I am sure that we are not the only ones to notice that everywhere we turn this year we are confronted with an amazing array of pumpkin spiced food items.











Monday, October 5, 2015

South Llano River State Park

While were traveling across central Texas, we spent one night at South Llano River State Park.  This park is known for its bird watching and has set up viewing blinds.  Here are a few images that I captured from a brief visit to a couple of these blinds.

















I believe this is the Axis Deer which is a species introduced into Texas.



Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Pendleton Bend COE Campground

On Sunday September 20th we flew out to Memphis, Tennessee to pick up our new full-timing home.  After our PDI and taking delivery of our new Tiffin Allegro Bus, we spent several days at Memphis Jellystone RV Park in nearby Horn Lake, Mississippi.  Besides some things we had left at the dealership earlier and several trips to area stores, we outfitted the new coach with enough stuff to drive back to California.  Once we were comfortable that everything was working to our satisfaction, we started our travels back to the west coast in our rig that we call the "Dragon Wagon".

Our first stop on this trek was at the very nice Pendleton Bend Campground in a COE recreation area on the Arkansas River.



This part of the Arkansas River is part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and barges sometimes pass by.



As the sun got low, the sunset looked promising.



We were treated to an unusual sunset.  The sun shining through gaps in the cloud banks on the horizon created a spotlight effect.



The Dragon Wagon reflecting the sunset



Friday, August 28, 2015

Building a Motorhome - Days 12 through 16

The pace of changes has slowed way down this week, so I'm consolidating several days into this post.


Day 12 was spent in tile repair in Red Bay.  Since we could not access the interior and nothing was being done to the exterior, we spent our time wandering around the main factory floor.  I have no pictures to post of our rig for day 12.


Day 13 was final finish at the main plant.  The interior work is supposed to be done by this stage, but we had a couple of issues that had to be put off until a little later.


A few images from our almost finished coach, with the slides out.






We're not sure what we are going to do with all the decorative cushions...



A couple of images with the slides in
It is tight, but we can get to the fridge, bedroom and bathroom!




Starting to look like it is getting closer





Day 14 was back to the paint facility in Belmont for some paint touch up.


Some pretty big snakes near the factory.  It looks this one got run over in the middle of shedding its skin.



Masking for some paint re-spraying




Day 15 was spent in the repair and detailing line at Belmont.

Caulking around the windshield



Applying product decals








Day 16 was some more final finish work, sealing, bubble check and rain test at Belmont.

Mud flap installed



Caulking potential water entry spots



Spraying soapy water on seams of pressurized coach looking for unwanted leaks



The last step for the day was a thorough drenching in the rain booth to again check for leaks.




 


This smaller Allegro Breeze reminded us of an immature animal surrounded by the full grown members of the group!